I dont know much bout 12a's but my friends breaks are soft as ****, you have to pump them a bit but it looses pressure, I'm scared to do anything, I put it in drive and floored it in his driveway and slammed the breaks and it took soo long to stop the peddle went to the floor. Could a vaccum leak cause that? Also the engine dies easially. It seems to run strong! but when you put it in reverse and give it some gas pewf it shuts off, thisis annoying as the cars alternator is weak so it wont recharge much and turning it on and off kills the batt fast. I dont know what would cause the stalling but its annoying, also the car wont top 6K rpm and its a 79.

 

Well first try changing the break fluid and bleeding the breaks. Check the power brake booster as it may be bad.

Get some new plugs, and wires. I'm not familiar with the points system ignition in your car so sorry I can be of more help there.
I would get some carb cleaner and spray it all over and clean out as much gunk as possible.

See if any off that helps...checking all of your vacuum hoses isn't a bad idea either...but FYI you may want to buy a few feet of new hose, because while checking vacuum lines you will probably break most of them b/c they are so old. Not your fault, just the way it is.

 

This should have nothing to do with the brake booster, although the brake booster does have a vacuum line, and if it either isnt connected or cracked there will be a vacuum leak. the pedal would be harder to push down if the brake booster itself was at fault... If the brake pedal travels to the floor, you are in desperate need of a new brake master cylinder as long as there is fluid in it. If there is no fluid in the master cylinder, youve probably damaged it anyway and should replace it but the lack of fluid would indicate a leak in the system, or that another part of the braking system is worn.

Once I stupidly refilled my low brake fluid without checking the brake lines, calipers, pads, and rotors. That wasnt prety, I was actually quite lucky. I was about to pull onto a main roadway when I lost my brakes completely. Luckily I caught the E-brake in time and stopped about 3 feet from fast moving traffic. Turns out the inside pad had been worn down so bad, that the calipers piston popped right out leaving nothing but a big gaping hole for fluid to squirt out of.
I was very lucky I must say, and from then on I have kept my brakes in top notch order. If I ever notice the fluid being low I will check everything before topping it up. Low brake fluid definately indicates a problem.

To everyone out there: please keep your brakes well maintained, and if you plan to upgrade your vehicle, start with new brakes or at least make sure they are in perfect working order. Any brake failure is preventable, and theres no sense risking yours and others lives, Its that simple.

Good luck, and get those brakes fixed! haha

 

My car used to do the same thing (my '83), and when I finally got so sick of it I pulled the engine and realized that the brake booster was bad and created a massive vacuum leak, thus making the engine stall out while using the brakes. It would also kill my stopping power as well.

 

Are we talking about breaks or brakes? I just typed this on my break, so hopefully you aren't smashing your breaks into the floorboard.

 

Fluid bypassing the seals in the master cylinder (assuming you are not leaking any brake fluid). Replace the master cylinder, then bleed the system.

 

ah that sounds right, I pump the breakes and they go dead after awile, I'll tell him its the master cylinder. uhmm I'll look into cleaning the carb, is it normal for it to smell like gas when you have the car off?

 

Make sure that the vent solenoid is hooked up and powered correctly. This is the single wire coming off the carb right by the alternator. A search on this will tell all you need to know...

 

test your alt. too, see if its putting out a true 14.4 +/- volts. The lack of volts reeks havoc on higher rpm performance as the ignition system needs more power per second and its not putting it out so it will run like **** after a certain point. and low rpm well obviously your lights, wipers and all that good stuff will work half assed. If its over 14.4 or so volts I would suggest replacing the voltage regulator before a fire starts and your car burns up and then you'll have a bigger problem then just the car stalling out or not starting at all. Fixing the brakes would be a wise idea too.

 

Test the master cylinder by pumping the brake pedal 6 or 8 times fairly hard with the car running and hold the pedal to the floor, if it slowly fades or is rock hard the master cylinder is suspect.

Double check the brake booster and see if it holds a vacuum with a $30 vacuum pump from autozone or advance. This may also cause a hard brake pedal.

A general tune up sounds like a good idea.

Test your alternator while the engine is running by putting a volt meter across the battery, it should read 13.2 - 14.5 if the alternator is charging properly.